Outlook dire for young English players after window shuts on their Premier League dreams

Records were broken. Hearts will be next. Another calamitous transfer window
for the young English footballer closed with Tom Carroll – a player picked
out by Roy Hodgson as an example of thwarted talent – moving on loan from
Tottenham Hotspur to Queens Park Rangers of the Championship.

Statement of intent: Arsenal's puchase of Mesut Özil is one of very few Premier League A-list imports this summer Photo: REUTERS

None of the seven players signed to replace Gareth Bale at Tottenham Hotspur is English, or even British, so Hodgson’s meagre pool of native-born talent is unlikely to grow this term.

So desperate is the Football Association for new blood that Tiago Ilori will be sounded out about playing for England, on the grounds that he was born in London 20 years ago. Ilori, who moved from Sporting Lisbon for £7 million, has yet to kick a ball for Liverpool.

Behind the fancy numbers – the blizzard of broken records – lay a few cold truths for the Premier League and English football.

Our highest league exported its best player – Bale, last season’s footballer of the year. In reply its A-list imports stretched no further than Mesut Özil, Willian and arguably Fernandinho.

Across the leading clubs there are justifiably high hopes for the likes of Erik Lamela, Roberto Soldado, Christian Eriksen (all Spurs), Stevan Jovetic, Jesús Navas (both Manchester City) and Pablo Daniel Osvaldo at Southampton, but overall the world’s top players either stayed in Spain, Italy, France and Germany, or chose to remain in Europe when moving around.

The cabaret of transfer deadline day, which Newcastle United’s director of football, Joe Kinnear, might as well have slept through, is a glove puppet show, obscuring reality. Most of the elite trading was done earlier in the summer.

The Premier League’s cast of wealthy owner-speculators do not have the field to themselves. Two strikers dominated this summer’s market and both wound up in France. Radamel Falcao joined Monaco from Atletico Madrid for £53 million and Edinson Cavani moved from Napoli to Paris St-Germain for £55 million.

Equally, Isco (chased by Manchester City) joined Real Madrid from Malaga, Thiago Alcantara ignored Manchester United to sign for Bayern Munich and Gonzalo Higuaín spurned Arsenal in favour of Napoli, leaving Özil with few targets for his assists.

Neymar, meanwhile, joined Lionel Messi at Barcelona, from where Cesc Fabregas said no to United, and Cristiano Ronaldo stayed put at Real Madrid, despite the possibility of a return to Old Trafford.

We could go on like this. Robert Lewandowski preferred to wait another year for his move to Bayern Munich rather than agree a move to the Premier League, which was his other option.

Joao Moutinho, the highly regarded Portugal midfielder, was another to escape the Premier League’s raiding gangs, while James Rodríguez also fell for the lure of Monaco, joining the haves and the have yachts.

Again and again even the biggest English clubs missed out on the most glamorous names.

There is plenty new to keep us entertained – at Manchester City and Spurs especially – but the Messianic fervour around Özil’s arrival at Arsenal for £42.4 million says as much about their recent transfer drought as Özil’s qualities as a player. Arsenal fans were desperate for a statement of intent, a purchase that would restore them to the high-stakes poker game.

But after a weekend in which two high-intensity ‘Super Sunday’ Premier League fixtures produced a rash of injuries for Roy Hodgson’s England, there was no significant elevation for any major home-grown player. Steven Caulker, Scott Parker and Tom Huddlestone were among those culled by Spurs.

Of the seven players bought by Aston Villa, only one was English: Liam Prynn, from Torquay for £500,000. Andy Carroll’s £15.5 million move to West Ham from Liverpool only reaffirmed the absurdity of him ever costing £35 million.

Much of the most strenuous effort was expended on keeping star names where they already were. Wayne Rooney’s camp expected offers to come in from Bayern Munich, PSG or the two Spanish giants.

Instead Arsenal and Chelsea were the only suitors: another indictment of English standards. Rooney was simply not a major target for Europe’s superpowers and United were unwilling to sell him to a domestic rival.

At Liverpool, who traded well and are on the rise, Luis Suárez’s hopes of attracting Real Madrid or another illustrious suitor came to nought.

Arsenal’s clumsy lunge for him was the first of many before they splurged on Özil. At the same time Newcastle’s only victory was to hang on to Yohan Cabaye, against the player’s wishes.

The good news is that the Premier League is likely to be more competitive now that Liverpool are recovering, Arsenal have escaped the doubt-cycle and Spurs have spent over £100 million.

Lower down, many middle-ranking clubs appear to have spent the new TV windfall sensibly. More supporters of more clubs will feel enthused by the arrival of new faces than in previous years.

The myths, though, have to be punctured. Özil’s arrival reminds us how few of the world’s top 20 or 30 players actually play in the Premier League, and how dire the outlook is for young English players. While FA rhetoric builds and builds towards coaching reforms and a stronger emphasis on creativity over physicality, the clubs exercise extreme pragmatism.